The Importance of Having a Will for Expats in the UAE

Quick Summary:

● Without a will in the UAE, the law decides how your estate is distributed. It will not be you who makes this decision.

● Your spouse does not automatically get everything; the law divides your assets.

● When you pass away, your bank accounts are frozen, which can cause financial stress for your family.

●     The legal processes take longer. It becomes complicated, especially when dealing with foreign documents and translations.

● If you do not leave instructions, it can lead to family disputes and court involvement.

●     The guardianship of your children is not automatically decided based on your wishes.

●     Your business interests and owned assets can be delayed or disrupted.

●     Having a Will gives you control, speeds up the process, protects your family, and ensures that your intentions are carried out.

Most people who come to us do not have a Will. That is not unusual. What is unusual is how few of them have thought through what that actually means in the UAE context, specifically for someone who is not a national, who holds assets across borders, and whose family may be scattered across two or three different countries.

The short answer is this: without a Will, you lose control. Not in a vague, theoretical sense. In a very concrete legal sense. The UAE’s default succession rules take over, and they distribute your estate according to a statutory formula that was not written with your family’s particular circumstances in mind.

Below, we set out the main risks. Some of them are well known. Others tend to catch people off guard.

“The law does not ask what you would have wanted. It applies what is written. A Will is how you make sure what is written reflects you.”

Your Spouse Will Not Automatically Inherit Everything

This is the one that surprises people most. There is a widespread assumption, particularly among couples who have been together for decades, that the surviving spouse simply gets everything. Under the UAE’s intestate succession framework, that is not how it works.

Where there are children, the estate is typically divided. The spouse receives a portion. The children receive the rest, in shares determined by statute. The proportions depend on the specific circumstances, but the point is that the surviving spouse does not get to decide, and neither do you, unless you have a Will that says otherwise.

For families where the spouse was financially dependent on the deceased, or where the bulk of the estate is tied up in property, this can create a very difficult situation very quickly.

The Accounts Get Frozen. Immediately.

When someone dies in the UAE, their bank accounts are frozen. This is not a formality. The bank is legally required to do it, and it happens regardless of whether the account was jointly held or not. The funds cannot be accessed until the court process has run its course and a formal order has been issued.

For a family dealing with the death of a breadwinner, losing access to those funds for months on end is not an abstract inconvenience. It means school fees, rent, utilities, and day-to-day expenses all become a problem at the worst possible time. A Will does not prevent the freeze from happening, but it significantly shortens the process that lifts it.

Foreign Documents Create Delays That Few People Anticipate

Almost every expat estate involves foreign documents. Marriage certificates, birth certificates, death certificates, and sometimes probate documents from another jurisdiction. Before a UAE court will accept any of them, they typically need to be legalised, and in most cases officially translated into Arabic.

This takes time. It can also create complications if documents are not in the right format, if translations are disputed, or if there are inconsistencies between records in different countries. Families going through this process while managing grief, often from overseas, frequently underestimate how much it asks of them.

Families Disagree. Especially Without Clear Instructions.

We see this more often than people expect. The absence of a Will does not just create a legal vacuum. It creates space for disagreement. Questions arise about who has the authority to manage the estate, what assets actually belong to it, and how statutory shares should be interpreted and applied.

Family relationships that were perfectly functional before are tested under the pressure of grief, financial uncertainty, and competing interests. Without a named executor and clearly stated beneficiaries, those disagreements go to court. And courts take time and cost money.

Guardianship of Children Is Not Automatically Resolved

If you have minor children and no Will, there is no document that records who you would have chosen to care for them. A Will is the only instrument through which that preference can be formally expressed in a way the courts will recognise.

Without one, guardianship arrangements may require separate court proceedings, and the outcome depends entirely on what the court decides is in the best interests of the child. That may not be what you would have chosen. And you will not be there to make the argument.

Business Interests Can Be Left in Limbo

If the deceased held shares in a UAE company, those shares form part of the estate. Until the succession is resolved, the position of those shares is legally uncertain. In a small or closely held business, that uncertainty can affect day-to-day operations, freeze decision-making, and in some cases put the business itself at risk.

Business partners are not immune to this either. They may find themselves unable to make binding decisions, execute contracts, or manage the company normally while the estate is being administered. A Will that addresses business succession directly can prevent much of this disruption.

Joint Ownership Is Not the Safety Net Most People Think It Is

A number of expat couples operate on the assumption that because accounts or property are jointly held, the survivor will simply take over. In some jurisdictions, that is broadly how it works. In the UAE, it is more complicated.

Only the deceased’s share of a jointly held asset falls into the estate. That share is then subject to the succession process. Depending on the asset and how it is structured, the surviving co-owner may not have unimpeded access to the full value of the asset while that process is ongoing. Relying on joint ownership as a substitute for estate planning is a risk that regularly creates problems in practice.

IN SUMMARY: THE RISKS OF DYING INTESTATE AS AN EXPAT IN THE UAE

Your estate is distributed by statute, not by your wishes. Your spouse may receive only part of the estate. Accounts are frozen immediately and remain so until the court process concludes. Foreign documents create delay. Family disputes become more likely without a named executor and clear instructions. Guardianship of your children is left to the court. Business interests are left in an uncertain position. Joint ownership provides less protection than most people assume.

So What Does a Will Actually Do?

It puts you back in control. That is the simplest way to put it.

A properly registered Will in the UAE allows you to specify exactly who receives what, appoint an executor who can act without having to obtain court approval at every step, state a preference for the care of your children, and address your business interests as part of a coherent plan. For expats with assets in more than one country, it should be read alongside any Wills in other jurisdictions to make sure everything works together.

The process of getting a Will in place is not complicated. The risks of not having one, as set out above, are.

You built your life here on your terms. A Will makes sure that, if the worst happens, those terms still count.

Speak With the Estate Planning Team at Elnaggar & Partners

We advise UAE-based expatriates on drafting and registering Wills, cross-jurisdictional estate planning, and guardianship provisions. If you would like to understand your options, we are happy to have that conversation.

Contact us to arrange a confidential consultation